Visions 3: Exotic nuclear beams

High intensity beams of short-lived nuclei will be an invaluable tool in physics, chemistry, materials science and the biosciences

During the past 70 years, physicists have developed ever more sophisticated machines for accelerating beams of subatomic particles such as electrons and nuclei.

These are species which are generally stable and do not spontaneously disintegrate into other particles. Now, a new generation of accelerators is under consideration designed to produce intense beams of a wide range of less stable, radioactive nuclei.